Please find a FAQ produced by the Direwolf Council that is officially supported by Carpe Noctem. We recommend all players to use these rules.

Direwolf Council 8th Edition Vampire Counts FAQ 12/08/2010

Q: Does the "Fly" ability of a Black Coach after its absorbed 6+ Power dice mean that, as a chariot (which cannot March Move by default), can March Move while flying? If not should this be Errata'd to "Gains Hover" instead of Fly

A. The rules as they are currently written do not allow the Black Coach to march. The "Flying March" rule on page 70 of the Rulebook states "A unit that is flying can march as NORMAL....". As the Black Coach is classified as a Chariot it is not normally allowed to march per the Rulebook page 86.

S. Rulebook pgs 70, 86 / VC book pg 76

Question will be submitted to the Design Team as a main rules question (as this also affects other Flying Chariots such as the Tzeentch Deamon chariot) for official clarification.

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Q: With the redesigned Troop Types, should Invocation of Nehek allow War Beasts to raise D6 Wounds just like Infantry?

A. No. The change in unit type of Fell Bats from infantry to warbeasts corrects the prior oversight pertaining to Fell Bats and IoN. In addition, as a VC player was never able to raise D6 Direwolves, this appears to be a wishlist item.

S. VC book / Discussion with VC Playtesters

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Q: With the Sequencing rule on page 10 of the Warhammer Rule Book, there is a conflict between Evocation of Death and 'Roll for Winds of Magic' which both state 'At the start of....'. Is it possible for an opponent to decide that at his turn, Evocation goes before generating the Dice pool, effectively denying the Black Coach any chance at absorbing dice?

A. The "Sequencing" Rule on page 10 of the Rulebook states that the player whose turn it is chooses the order only in cases where the wording is not clear as to which rule is resolved first. As the Black Coach's Evocation of Death rule is clear that it affects all power dice in the pool, determining the amount of power dice must occur first.

S. Rulebook page 10 / VC book page 47

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Q: Black Periapt does not state when in the magic phase the dispel or power dice come into play, can we choose or are they generated at the start along with the Winds dice?

A. Given that the amended rules for The Black Periapt state "add it to his side's power or dispel dice pool in the next Magic phase" and we know from the Rulebook page 30 that the power and dispel dice pool are determined at the start of the magic phase, it appears that yes the dice from the Periapt are added in at the start of the turn as the Periapt does not include any explicit language to the contrary.

S. Vampire Counts Official Update / Rulebook page 30

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Q: Stomp and Thunderstomp have been ruled in the Rulebook FAQ to ignore Special rules. Are ethereals models such as Cairn Wraiths therefore immune to getting stomped by magical creatures such as a Bloodthirster or a Fiend of Slaanesh?

A. Given the Q&A referenced above, the rules as they are currently written do make ethereal models such as Cairn Wraiths immune to getting Stomped or Thunder stomped. Given the type of "crush" attack Stomp and Thunderstomp represents this appears to be appropriate

S. Warhammer Rulebook Official Update / Rulebook page 76.

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Q: In the second paragraph of the Amendments´section, the Errata for Vampire Counts states to ignore page. 88 of the VC army book and use the general rules for army composition. Does it mean that a wight king or a necromancer can be the army general if the happen to be the characters with the highest Leadership, or a VC army must still be led by a vampire model?

A. Given that the Vampire Counts Official update itself states, to ignore all of page 88 (which contains the rule that a Vampire must lead the army), yes a Wight King or Necromancer may in fact be the General.

S. Vampire Counts Official Update / VC book page 88.

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Q: Does the Evocation of Death ability of the Black Coach continue to absorb magical energy after the coach is fully maxed up? Can a player decide to have the Evocation of Death gone before his wizards roll to channel additional power dice?

A. Yes, the Black Coach continues to absorb magical energy as indicated by the "6+" on the Evocation of Death Effects chart on page 47 of the VC book. As discussed previously, the "Sequencing" Rule on page 10 of the Rulebook states that the player whose turn it is chooses the order only in cases where the wording is not clear as to which rule is resolved first. As the Black Coach's Evocation of Death rule is clear that it affects all power dice in the pool, determining the amount of power dice (including those added via channeling) must occur first

S. VC book page 47/ Rulebook page 10

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Q: "I'm using this one" rule on page 501 of the rulebook is in conflict, for Magic Lances, with the basic Lance rules on page 90. Which takes precedence? If we can keep using the Magic Lance, I assume the +2 Strength bonus is not applied, correct?

A. No conflict actually exists pertaining to the interactions of these rules. Whenever a character with a Magic Lance charges into combat he uses the lance for that turn per the "I'm using this one" rule. In subsequent turns of combat (or if the wielder does not charge) he uses his hand weapon per the rules for Lances on page 90.

S. Rulebook pages 90, 501.

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Q: As Necromancy spells may be cast multiple times in a magic phase and that there is no restriction on using a bound items only once in a magic phase, can the Book of Arkhan be used as long as we have power dice, rolling to see if it burns out after every use?

A. Yes, the Book of Arkhan can be used multiple times in the magic phase as it contains a spell (Vanhels Danse Macabre) which is classified as a "Necromancy" spell and specifically allowed to be cast more than one in a Magic phase. Note the Rulebook page 37 states "A bound spell is just like an ordinary spell."

S. VC book pages 38, 39, 86 / Rulebook page 37

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Q: Are VC units with the ethereal rules such as Cairn Wraiths effected by Giants attacks even though the attacks are non-magical?

A. As has been the case since the sixth edition of Warhammer, the only type of Giant attack that can affect VC ethereal units is "Yell and Bawl" as they also have the "Unstable" special rule and thus suffer one wound for each point by which they lose a combat.

Q: Do Hex spells that cause damage count as Ranged attacks for the purpose of the Banner of Blood Keep and Wristbands of Black Gold?

A. While not explicitly defined in the rules, any attack which originates outside of close combat should be considered to be a "ranged" attack. As the Banner of Blood Keep and Wristbands of Black Gold specifically protect against "ranged" attacks, yes they would provide a save against the damage component of spells cast upon them.

S. Council Opinion / VC Book pages 86, 87

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Q: If a vampire wearing the Carstein Ring dies while under the influence of Transformation of Kadon, does the vampire get to come back on a 2+?

A. Yes he gets to use his ring:

Carstein Ring: VC book page 86: "The first time the wearer of this ring is slain roll a D6 at the end of the phase. On a score of 2+ the vampire is immediately returned to 'life' with a single Wound. The returning model...."

Remains in Play Spells - Rulebook page 36: "They only come to an end when the target is slain, or else the caster chooses to end the spell."

Given the above rules references, in my personal opinion, it is clear that the Vampire Lord is still entitled to use the Carstein Ring if he is slain while transformed. As Transformation of Kadon is a RiP spell it immediately comes to an end when he is slain and he reverts to his normal state of being a Vampire Lord. As he is a Vampire Lord at the end of the phase, he may therefore utilize the Carstein Ring.

S. Warhammer Rulebook pages 36, 493 / VC Book page 86

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Q: Does Red Fury grant extra attacks for unsaved wounds caused by spells cast by the caster (CoY, the hand of death for example.) Intuitively it seems like of course it shouldn't but the wording doesn't exclude it: "For EACH unsaved wound that the vampire causes, it get to immediately make an additional attack."

A: In our personal opinion, Red Fury only works in the close combat phase. This is strongly implied by the fact that the rule states "it gets to immediately make an additional attack". From that phrase the most obvious conclusion is that the designers intended the power to only work in close combat as that is when attacks normally occur.

A: The Cadaverous Cuirass, it does in fact make the wearer immune to Heroic Killing Blow! Note that Heroic Killing Blow states "It functions **exactly** like a normal Killing Blow, except it works on any size creature..."